Rochester shoots 336, breaks school record for 18 holes

Bailey wins medalist with 77, Haughs sets personal mark with 89

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

KOKOMO — The Rochester girls golf team has wasted no time breaking school records, and it is taking some of the state’s best teams to beat them.

The Lady Zs shot a 336 to break the school record for 18 holes at the Kokomo Invitational at Kokomo Country Club Saturday.

Rochester finished third in a field of eight teams. Noblesville won with a 317, and Westfield took second with a 330.

Westfield finished second at state and Noblesville fourth last year. Noblesville and Westfield were ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the preseason state coaches poll.

Rochester junior Olivia Bailey won medalist honors for the second straight tournament with a 77. Bailey tied with two Noblesville players but was declared medalist based on handicap. A playoff was not held.

Ava Thomas had an 83, Molly Moore had an 87, Lexi Haughs had an 89, and Laynie Migonis had a 111.

Haughs’ score was a personal best for 18 holes.

The previous school record was 338, set on three different occasions – in 2011, in 2012 and in 2013.

Rochester had shot a 339 at the season-opening Kankakee Valley Invitational on Monday.

Playing in pleasant weather with temperatures in the mid-70s and with fewer penalty areas than their previous tournament at the Sandy Pines Golf Club course in DeMotte, the record went down five days later.

“Yeah, definitely,” Rochester coach Chad Thomas said when asked if the players were mindful of the record. “We didn’t talk about it or state that we have to go out and shoot a certain number, but after we shot 339 in the first tournament and we were one away from the record, they knew that at some point this year they would definitely have another run at it, I just didn’t know it would be the very following weekend on a course that hardly any of them have played.”

Rochester is new to this tournament. They typically played the Twin Lakes Invitational on the first Saturday of the regular season but dropped that tournament for this one.

Coach Thomas said Bailey and Ava Thomas had played Kokomo Country Club before, but Moore, Haughs and Migonis had not. And Ava Thomas had only played the front nine and not the full course.

“I was learning the holes right along with the girls on the back nine,” coach Thomas said. “So to do it on a course that we’re not real familiar with and the first year in the tournament is exciting. It was a good day.”

Perhaps the most encouraging news is that coach Thomas thinks there is room for improvement. 

“In reality, that’s an area that we need to really focus on,” Thomas said when asked about scrambling after missing the fairway off the tee. “Because I saw a lot of shots wasted inside of 100 yards or when we did miss greens. I know that’s an area that we need to get better at, and we’ll work on that and hopefully see that pay dividends, but going around today, I didn't think it was going to be a record-breaking day, but they hung in there and just stayed the course, and it happened, you know.”

As for Haughs, she might be the team’s most improved player. At last year’s regional at Sandy Pines Golf Club in DeMotte, she shot a 117; at this year’s Kankakee Valley Invitational, she shot a 96 on the same course.

At Kokomo, she broke 90 for the first time. Coach Thomas said she didn’t have “multiple bigger numbers” and praised her chipping and putting on the quick Kokomo greens.

“I feel pretty good about my round,” Haughs said. “It was challenging with the putting but all my other shots felt pretty good.”

Haughs, a sophomore, said she has been working in earnest on her chipping and putting since the spring. She raved about coach Thomas and assistant coach Dan Bailey, saying either can quickly fix a flaw in her swing in the middle of a round.

“I feel like I’ll do a lot better,” Haughs said. “I feel like I can do way better. My putting wasn’t the greatest today, and I feel like I can putt a lot better, and if I work on my putting more and I get it down, I will shoot lower … like in the middle-80s.”

Haughs was asked about the school record.

“It’s really exciting, and I love the team that I’m playing for,” Haughs said. “They’re just all really good, and they did most of the work basically.”

While Bailey and Ava Thomas made state as individuals last year, the team missed state by one stroke at the regional. The goal for this year is clear.

“I definitely think we’ll make it to state this year,” Haughs said. “Because last year I shot horrible and this year, I feel like I shot in the 90s at our regional course, and I feel like I’ll shoot better into the season.”

Kokomo Invitational

at Kokomo Country Club Saturday (par 70)

Noblesville 317, Westfield 330, Rochester 336, Lapel 392, Plymouth 394, Eastern (Greentown) 411, Carroll (Flora) 481, Kokomo 486

ROCHESTER (336): Olivia Bailey 77, Ava Thomas 83, Molly Moore 87, Lexi Haughs 89, (Laynie Migonis 111)